The present invention relates to tissue ablation devices generally and relates more particularly to devices adapted to ablate lines of tissue, for example for use in conjunction with an electrosurgical version of the Maze procedure.
The Maze procedure is a surgical intervention for patients with chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) that is resistant to other medical treatments. The operation employs incisions in the right and left atria which divide the atria into electrically isolated portions which in turn results in an orderly passage of the depolarization wave front from the sino-atrial node (SA Node) to the atrial-ventricular node (AV Node) while preventing reentrant wave front propagation. Although successful in treating AF, the surgical Maze procedure is quite complex and is currently performed by a limited number of highly skilled cardiac surgeons in conjunction with other open-heart procedures. As a result of the complexities of the surgical procedure, there has been an increased level of interest in procedures employing electrosurgical devices or other types of ablation devices, e.g. thermal ablation, micro-wave ablation, cryo-ablation or the like to ablate tissue along pathways approximating the incisions of the Maze procedure. Electrosurgical systems for performing such procedures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,213, issued to Hiassaguerre, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,961, issued to Maguire, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,661, all incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Cryo-ablation systems for performing such procedures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,280 issued to Avitall, also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In conjunction with the use of electrosurgical ablation devices, various control mechanisms have been developed to control delivery of ablation energy to achieve the desired result of ablation, i.e. killing of cells at the ablation site while leaving the basic structure of the organ to be ablated intact. Such control systems include measurement of temperature and impedance at or adjacent to the ablation site, as are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,681, issued to Struhl, et al., incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Additionally, there has been substantial work done toward assuring that the ablation procedure is complete, i.e. that the ablation extends through the thickness of the tissue to be ablated, before terminating application of ablation energy. This desired result is some times referred to as a xe2x80x9ctransmuralxe2x80x9d ablation. For example, detection of a desired drop in electrical impedance at the electrode site as an indicator of transmurality is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,721 issued to Marchlinski et al, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Alternatively, detection of an impedance rise or an impedance rise following an impedance fall are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,671 issued to Yates and U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,684 issued to Hassler, respectively, also incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Because ablated heart tissue is necrotic, it does not depolarize and therefore does not contribute to the depolarization signal. This fact has recently led some physicians to use the amplitude of a locally acquired electrogram signal to determine whether a lesion is complete. For example, during provision of R-F energy at a constant power level, the physician may monitor the amplitude of electrograms obtained using electrodes adjacent the ablation site, and, in response to a defined drop, e.g. 75%, may terminate provision of RF energy.
Three basic approaches have been employed to create elongated lesions using electrosurgical devices. The first approach is simply to create a series of short lesions using a contact electrode, moving it along the surface of the organ wall to be ablated to create a linear lesion. This can be accomplished either by making a series of lesions, moving the electrode between lesions or by dragging the electrode along the surface of the organ to be ablated and continuously applying ablation energy, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,533 issued to Mulier, et al., incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The second basic approach to creation of elongated lesions is simply to employ an elongated electrode, and to place the elongated electrode along the desired line of lesion along the tissue. This approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,213, cited above and. The third basic approach to creation of elongated lesions is to provide a series of electrodes and arrange the series of electrodes along the desired line of lesion. The electrodes may be activated individually or in sequence, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,961, also cited above. In the case of multi-electrode devices, individual feedback regulation of ablated energy applied via the electrodes may also be employed. The present invention is believed useful in conjunction with all three approaches
The present invention is directed toward an improved system for creating lesions and assessing their completeness or transmurality. In the preferred embodiment as disclosed, the apparatus for producing the lesions is an electrosurgical device, in particular a saline-irrigated bipolar electrosurgical forceps. However, the mechanism for assessing lesion transmurality provided by the present invention is believed useful in other contexts, including unipolar R-F ablation and R-F ablation using catheters or hand-held probes. The mechanism for assessing transmurality may also be of value in the context of other types of ablation systems, including those in which ablation occurs in conjunction with an induced rise in tissue temperature, such as those applying ablation energy in the form of microwave radiation, light (laser ablation) or heat (thermal ablation). The invention may also be useful in conjunction with other types of ablation, including cryo-ablation, ultrasound ablation and chemical ablation.
According to the present invention, assessment of transmurality of a lesion is accomplished by monitoring the depolarization signal amplitude in a local electrogram taken using electrodes located adjacent the tissue to be ablated. In the context of R-F ablation, measurement of electrogram amplitude may be done using the ablation electrodes or may be done using dedicated electrodes adjacent to the ablation electrodes. In the context of the other types of ablation discussed above, electrogram measurement would typically be accomplished by means of a dedicated set of measurement electrodes.
Following onset of application of ablation energy to heart tissue, the amplitude of a local electrogram measured with electrodes located adjacent tissue to be ablated first gradually drops and then stabilizes, indicating that the tissue being monitored has ceased making any contribution to the sensed electrogram. The amplitude drop (xcex94EGM) or the following amplitude plateau xe2x80x9cPxe2x80x9d may be used alone or together as indicators of transmurality employed by the present invention. The amplitude drop may be compared to a pre-set value (xcex94EGM ? a). (The plateau xe2x80x9cPxe2x80x9d may be detected in response to a determination that the rate of amplitude change is less than a defined value over a series of amplitude measurements or over a defined duration (|dA/dt|=b). In some embodiments, detection of a rapid drop in amplitude (dA/dt=d) may be employed as an indicator that the ablation process is proceeding too quickly and may be employed to trigger a reduction in the power of applied ablation energy. In other embodiments, detection of an insufficiently rapid drop in amplitude (dA/dt=d) may be employed as an indicator that the ablation process is proceeding too slowly and may be employed to trigger an increase in the power of applied ablation energy.
In the context of R-F ablation, the invention is believed valuable in conjunction with an ablation device having multiple, individually activatable electrodes or electrode pairs to be arranged along a desired line of lesion. In this context, the mechanism for determining transmurality of lesions adjacent individual electrodes or pairs may be used to deactivate individual electrodes or electrode pairs, when the lesions in tissue adjacent these individual electrodes or electrode pairs are complete. This allows the creation of an essentially uniform lesion along the line of electrodes or electrode pairs, regardless of differences in tissue thickness adjacent the individual electrodes or electrode pairs. The invention is also believed useful in conjunction with assessment of transmurality of lesions produced by devices having only a single electrode or single electrode pair. Similar considerations apply to the use of the present invention in the contexts of other types of ablation as listed above.